Episode 95: Three Things We're Rethinking About Fitness, Nutrition, and Metabolism

In this episode of the Boost Your Metabolism After Age 30 Podcast, we’re discussing what’s changed — and what hasn’t — in the world of fitness, nutrition, and metabolism. We're sharing where our perspective has evolved, based on the latest research, personal experience, and real client results.

Whether you're navigating weight loss, metabolic health, or just trying to feel better in your body, this episode offers new insights and actionable takeaways. 

In This Episode, We Cover:

1. Latest Research Regarding GLP-1 Medications (Ozempic, Mounjaro)
   • Why these aren’t muscle-wasting quick fixes when used correctly
   • The promising metabolic benefits of tirzepatide
   • Why these drugs are now preferred for diabetes treatment
   • The non-negotiables: lifting weights, eating enough protein, and not slashing calories
2. Cardio (Zone 2 in the Spotlight)
   • Why we’re loving Zone 2 cardio right now
   • How it helps regulate blood sugar and appetite
   • Why it’s a complement to strength training, not a replacement
3. Clean Eating (And the Role of Food Quality)
   • Why “macros over everything” doesn't always work
   • How whole, minimally processed foods can improve results — even at the same calorie level
   • The underestimated impact of food quality on hunger, metabolism, and muscle building
   • Our 80/20 rule for a flexible but nourishing diet

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed it.

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Transcript

0:44

Hey everyone and welcome back to the Booster Metabolism after age 30 podcast. This is Joe and I'll be your host today. And today I wanna share something a little bit different, and that's a few things that we at Couture Coaching have been rethinking lately when it comes to fitness, nutrition, and metabolism. As coaches who've been in this space for a while, we see a lot of trends come and go. And sometimes a lot of myths stick around for far too long, but we're always learning and experimenting and paying attention to both new research and also what's actually working for clients and for us personally. So if you are a woman over 30 who's ready to uplevel your lifestyle and not interested in crash diets or starving yourself or jumping on the latest fad, but really to build healthy, sustainable, strong. Habits and a strong body for the long haul. Then you definitely wanna take a listen to this episode. Like I said, today we're gonna be diving into three things that we're rethinking and how they might help you just shift your own approach a bit. So the first thing I'm gonna be talking about is GLP one medications and recent research around muscle preservation, metabolic support and how those. Drugs affect things beyond weight loss. So what I'm talking about here is ozempic, semaglutide and manjaro, which is tirzepatide. And these are meds that have been getting a lot of attention for weight loss. We have done a few podcasts on these meds. And like I said, they're getting a lot of attention for good reason. Let's. Talk though a little bit about what's actually happening when you're to your body when you take these meds. And full disclosure, and I was on this bandwagon for a while there was a fear that these meds were wasting away lean muscle. But really the latest research shows that muscle loss. Isn't significantly greater than when you use these drugs than what you'd see from standard calorie restriction. A few years ago when doctors and researchers were flashing red warning signs about these drugs and muscle wasting the real issue happening is that this happens when people slash calories way too low. And so that seemed to be what was happening as these drugs started to be used for weight loss. We were not big fans of that. From our perspective was just going to set you up a lot of boomerang weight gain and really mess up your metabolism if you lose a bunch of muscle while taking these drugs. But again. Most of these drugs research finds. It's not something about the drug itself, it's the. Way that they're, they were being dosed, which was definitely a very high dose. And it just the rapid weight loss and the calorie restriction that came along with those high doses is what was actually causing the muscle wasting. So what's even more promising is tirzepatide, which is a little bit different than semaglutide. I won't get into that here. Some recent studies show that it appears to boost fat oxidation meaning helping your body burn fat and being metabolically flexible. And also with this drug use of, it may blunt the typical metabolic slowdown that comes with weight loss and calories restrictions. We talk about this a lot on this podcast is that when you go on a diet or set out to lose weight usually that involves restricting your calories. If you're successful, you'll lose a bit of body mass. Hopefully, not too much muscle, but both the calorie restriction and the loss of some body mass will. Cause a hit to your metabolism your metabolism will take a hit. It'll slow down a bit from those two things. And like I said, with Tirzepatide, some of the recent. Studies show that it protects your metabolism a little bit. When you restrict calories and lose some body mass. It doesn't completely protect your metabolism, but it may blunt the effect that just normal dieting and loss of muscle mass causes to your metabolism. That is some good news about that particular drug. And what is especially interesting now is that these meds, I think especially Tirzepatide I've heard, are becoming the preferred treatment for type two by diabetes. And the reason why is because that drug in particular comes with a range of additional benefits beyond glucose control. So it has been shown to lower LDL, cholesterol and triglycerides reduce blood pressure, support heart health. Improve liver marker markers and significantly reduce inflammation. And so really and I keep calling these drugs, they're really peptides. They're showing, one, one thing they are great for is weight loss, but the bigger picture may be even more compelling. These meds support, whole body metabolic health. And like I said I think what I'm hearing is the trend may be that they they will become the preferred medication for diabetes because they really help out with overall longevity. While we weren't a huge fan of Ozempic for weight loss, just again, I think it's sounding like that was based on a dosing issue and how rapidly people were losing weight on these drugs, solely for weight loss. I think what we learn about them and research is always evolving, but what. We haven't changed our mind about is that you don't get all the wonderful benefits of these drugs, especially if you're using them for weight loss, if you're not. Also making the lifestyle changes that are necessary to, keep yourself at a healthy weight or manage your weight. And that is lifting weights, eating enough protein, and supporting your body through food and movement. Basically GLP ones and peptides they're not a free pass to slash calories, skip the gym and ignore your nutrition. These peptides and drugs do, have some amazing properties. It's sounding as they research them more, but they aren't a magic pill and so while a used correctly they can enhance your progress. Used, maybe differently. They can cause fatigue, weakness, and yes, muscle loss. So if you are on one of these medications or considering taking one of these me medications, make sure you're pairing it with strength training, high protein, nutrition, and overall, good dietary quality, getting lots of movement. And those things are how you'll protect your metabolism and get results that really last. So those are some new thoughts about these drugs. Again, I think it's important to recognize that, research changes and just to keep an open mind and have the humility when when we change our mind about something to, to address it and talk about it. I heard something on a recent podcast that anyone that is taking sort of an all or nothing or extreme approach to really. Anything in this space is probably trying to sell you something. So that, that's not a space that we want to be in. We want to just be providing good information to our listeners and to our clients. And so that's our recent thinking on GLP ones. And these peptides that have become very popular. Okay. Second thing we're rethinking is cardiovascular exercise. And so the long and short of this is that zone two cardio is in and we're loving it. At Couture we used to say that, cardio wasn't really all that important for weight management. And our preference was for high intensity interval training. If you were going to spend much time doing. Cardio. I think we may have even said things like, doing steady state cardio, just getting on a machine and spending 20 or 30 minutes on it was a waste of time. And while we still believe strength training and protein are really probably the two most important things when it comes to. Changing your body composition. We've really been rethinking how we look at cardio especially with the rise of popularity in zone two training. So what zone two cardio is a sweet spot where you're, you elevate your heart rate a bit, but you can still hold a conversation. So this could be like walking, on an elevation on your treadmill an easy jog or cycling that gets your heart into a particular zone. That, that's what zone two cardio is. It's like a, everything old is new again. I feel like this is what we were doing or what was popular back when I was in college. And maybe just graduated from college. But it's making a comeback and I have started incorporating it in my weekly exercise regimen. And frankly, I'm a huge fan and here's why. Studies have shown that this style of cardiovascular exercise does not burn off muscle, like long bouts of high intensity cardio can do. It helps for me. It really helps regulate my blood sugar and appetite. I don't know that this is the case for everyone, but this is, might be the most underrated part of zone two cardio. And then I think another reason why I like it, and I like it for our clients is. It makes it easier to stay active in general. So low key daily movement can often make a real difference for fat loss and overall health. And so I think, personally I can get on board with going and, getting on the elliptical and just getting my heart rate elevated a bit for 20 or 30 minutes then doing a very intense. Hit workout or very intense spinning class and then just being, gassed after that. I think adherence can be a little bit easier, and frankly, some people, when they first get started getting back into fitness or getting in shape. It's really hard to do that high intensity interval training and they can end up hurting themselves. So I think this is a situation where adherence is a lot better, and so you're likely more likely to do it more often. Like I said I am more excited and motivated to do this sort of cardio then super high intense cardio. So for that reason, I think that it's, it's also a good strategy. But that's not all. Research is also showing that zone two cardio improves metabolic flexibility and that's your body's ability to switch between burning carbs and fat efficiently and also supports heart health. So while it may not have quite the, calorie burning effect that super intense hi cardio does, it really is fantastic for your overall health. Longevity, metabolic health and mood. And that's why I am, I'm really enjoying this type of cardio and having clients that are enjoying it too. And again, as people are getting back into shape or getting back into the gym we're finding that people who work on improving their cardiovascular strength as well as their, strength building overall. One, helps the other out. So actually doing zone two cardio as you are starting to lift weights or starting to get back into shape can really help speed up that process. Because, it's just, it's improving your overall health. So what we haven't changed our minds about with regard to cardio is this, it is not a substitute for resistance training. Or a protein rich diet or proper nutrition. I still don't like the idea of cardio being used as a punishment for overeating or as your only form of exercise, but I think if you work a little bit of it every week, zone two cardio is valuable and is definitely a good addition to your exercise routine. Basically for overall health, but also if you're looking to feel better manage stress and support long-term fat loss. So again really becoming a big fan of zone two cardio. If you're one of our clients, you hear me talking about this a lot, so probably no surprise to you. Okay. The third thing I'm, I've been thinking about a little differently lately and as coaches, we've been reevaluating is clean eating. So typically we've always used a very flexible approach to nutrition at Couture coaching. But I think we're finding over time and I know with myself food quality definitely does matter. Clean eating was a trend for a while. And what that's referring to is just eating whole minimally processed foods. And like I said, we've always been fans of flexible dieting, dieting at tour coaching, and the idea that as long as you're hitting your macros, especially protein and staying in a calorie range that aligns with your goals, you don't. Necessarily need to worry about, whether, what kind of the quality of the food that you're eating. Often tracking macros takes care of that because, you're definitely not going to hit your macros if you have a diet of beer and donuts and pizza. You just would, not hitting any of your macros. Just counting macros or tracking your macros tended to clean up a lot of diet issues. And this still holds true. But I've recently done a fitness challenge that was comprised mostly of a clean food diet, meaning, just things that are whole foods, eggs, salmon, chicken, oatmeal, rice, fruits, vegetables. And we are running a similar challenge with our clients right now. And what we've seen is amazing. I feel like for me and certain clients that we've had who were struggling to lose weight at the same calorie level, they actually started seeing some real progress when they shifted to a more whole food based diet, started losing inches. I personally started gaining a lot of muscle which I thought was maybe not going to be easy for me at this age. And as long as I've been lifting weights and doing all of this, I, was. I was expecting to lose body fat. I was not expecting to also gain any significant amount of muscle. Less bloating, better energy. So I am at a point where I really do think quality of calories matters as well. Quantity of calories certainly matters. First and foremost, if you are looking to lose weight. But but I think it's also important to pay attention to quality of calories. So what's happening here when we focus on, a diet that's mostly comprised of minimally processed foods. So number one minimally processed foods have a higher thermic effect. So it just takes your body more calories to digest them. So you get like a little bit of a boost from a calorie burn perspective just by eating what we've traditionally called clean foods. Again, that's just food that's been minimally processed. Typically. Foods that are not. Processed are more filling which helps with hunger and consistency. And then I think the last thing is that even when we're doing our best to track calories, if we're eating stuff that is very processed and we don't really know how the food is prepared or has a bunch of different ingredients, it's very easy to underestimate the calories in those foods. And also they tend to be. Not as satiating and so we're probably just eating more overall when our diet includes a lot of processed foods when we're going out to eat a lot and we're, we're just trying to, I. Make sure we're hitting a protein goal and not really worrying about the rest. So calories and macros still probably matter the most but the quality of your calories can make a big difference in how your body responds. That's my new approach. But what we haven't changed our mind about in our approach with our clients is really you can still mostly live. If have some strategy for paying attention or eating with intention, you can still live a life where most foods are not off limits. So if you, can eat mostly, minimally processed foods. 80% of the time there's still room for pizza night or a dessert every now and again. I. You're going to see progress and easier weight management. Again, if most of the time your food is coming from real whole sources your body will definitely thank you. But we don't have to be rigid. We don't have to label foods as dirty or clean or good or bad. We can just focus on, how many ingredients there are, where that food's coming from. You can still have great progress, but still work in some fun treats every now and again. So there you have it. These are the three things that we've been rethinking lately. Just to recap new research is showing that the GLP one meds and the peptides are not. Necessarily muscle wasting magic pills. They can be useful and helpful, especially if you're using them for weight loss when they're paired with lifting weights and eating a sufficient amount of protein and generally not slashing your calories too low. Number two, zone two cardio is back that old steady state cardio. And we're finding that it's a low stress effective tool for. Getting healthier and balancing blood sugar and just generally being more active. And then number three. We're on a clean eating band bandwagon, and again I hate even using that label, but recognizing that there is real value in prioritizing whole minimally processed foods. So again, if you're a woman over 30 trying to take better care of yourself, I hope that this is helpful and educational. And really that you can start leaning into strategies that are sustainable, supportive, and smart. And learn what is a yo-yo diet or a fad diet. And always remember you don't have to overhaul your life overnight. And small changes can over time lead to big results. And if you want help figuring out how to put all the pieces together, that's what we do. Reach out. We can do a discovery call and. We'll help you create a nutrition plan and an exercise plan and a lifestyle that you can actually stick with. So thanks for tuning in. We will catch you next time, and have a great week. Thanks everyone.